THE first private company to run an NHS hospital has pulled out of the deal today while the crisis threatening A&E departments worsened as treatment times dipped to an all-time low.

A&E crisis worsens as less than nine in ten people seen within four hours

Circle Holdings said the level of cash it had pumped in to prop up Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust in Cambridgeshire was about to reach £5 million, meaning it would have the right to terminate the franchise.

The firm pointed to "significant changes in the operational landscape for NHS hospitals" since the contract was first procured in 2009.

It blamed the move on unprecedented increases in accident and emergency attendances, a lack of care places for patients awaiting discharge and that funding had been cut by 10.1 per cent this financial year.

In a statement, the company said: "Circle today announces that it has determined that its franchise to operate Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust is no longer sustainable under current terms and that it has entered into discussions with the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) with the view to ensuring an orderly withdrawal from the current contract."

The news comes as NHS England revealed that A&E departments performance times dropped to an all-time low last week, as the crisis in emergency care threatens to spiral out of control.

A woeful 86.7 per cent of patients were seen to within the optimum timeframe, despite the Government's promise to treat 95 per cent of visitors to casualty within four hours of their arrival.

The latest stats - for the week up to January 4 - follow the quarterly statistics for the last three months of 2014 which showed that 92.6 per cent of patients were seen within the four-hour target - the worst performance in a decade.

Last week's shocking results are the worst since the target was introduced.

Some 407,239 patients attended A&E in the week to January 4, up by 5.1 per cent or almost 20,000 attendances on the same week 12 months ago, and an increase of almost 4,000 on the previous week.

The percentage of patients waiting four hours or less from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge was 86.7 per cent - down from 90.5 per cent in the previous week and 94.3 per cent in same week last year.

Meanwhile at "type 1" major A&E departments - where consultants are on the frontline - just 79.8 per cent of patients were seen within four hours.

The poor performance has been partly blamed on winter flu outbreaks, as well as New Year celebrations.

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A&E services are in crisis and getting worse, critics warn

The NHS continues to face unprecedented pressures on its frontline services - with almost 20,000 more A&E attendances than last year

Dr Sarah Pinto-Duschinsky, director of operations and delivery for NHS England, said: "The NHS continues to face unprecedented pressures on its frontline services - with almost 20,000 more A&E attendances than last year - and more than 105,000 people admitted to hospital which is one of the highest figures on record.

"The extra £700 million invested has bought 800 more doctors, nearly 5,000 more nurses, creating over 6,000 more beds.

"Flu is now at its highest peak for the last three winters which is one of the reasons why over the New Year holiday we continued to treat more patients than ever before.

"This means the NHS will continue to be under pressure for the next few weeks. Even at this stage of the winter it is still worth people getting their flu jab if they have not done so, and get advice from their pharmacist for colds, coughs and minor conditions."

Circle began operating Hinchingbrooke in February 2012, the first time the management of an NHS trust had been delegated to a private company.

It warned in August that changes to funding mechanisms had left "uncertainty over Hinchingbrooke's profitability over the next year" though it said its "patient-centred and innovative approach should ensure the long-term sustainability of the contract".

Circle defended its running of the hospital, saying that it had been transformed since the 2012 takeover when it was described as a "basket case" facing closure.

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Ed Miliband promised to draft in extra nurses if he is elected

The NHS has been at the centre of a bitter political row between Labour and the Tories, and Ed Miliband has promised to draft in extra nurses to help ease pressure on the NHS if he wins the next election – funded by a 'mansion tax'.

More than a dozen hospitals enacted emergency measures this week while some patients were forced to wait 12 hours for a bed as A&E units struggled to cope.

The British Red Cross charity, which delivers aid in war and natural disaster zones, has been used to help transport patients in some areas.

The Labour leader has come up with a five-point plan to bolster the service if his party wins May's general election.

He said patients would be given quicker access to family doctors and GPs could also be installed in hospitals to cool pressure on the straining service. More nurses would be employed to staff the 111 helpline service to put an end to what Labour described as the "computer says go to A&E" approach.

Mr Miliband said: "Clearing up this mess will require the long term investment only Labour is prepared to make - 8,000 extra GPs, 5,000 more homecare workers, 3,000 more midwives and 20,000 additional nurses.

"But the scale of the current crisis also demands immediate action."

Chancellor George Osborne defended the Tory record on the NHS and said he had pumped extra money into the system.

He said: "There are more people than ever working in our health service, we are treating more people than ever, the people within the health service are doing a brilliant job and we are backing them up with increases in the amounts of money going to the health service."